225 lines
7.4 KiB
Markdown
225 lines
7.4 KiB
Markdown
---
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last_review_date: 2025-07-15
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redirect_from:
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- /Tips-N'-Tricks
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---
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# Tips and Tricks
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## Install previous versions of formulae
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Some formulae in `homebrew/core` are made available as [versioned formulae](Versions.md) using a special naming format, e.g. `gcc@9`. If the version you're looking for isn't available, consider using `brew extract`.
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## Quickly remove something from Homebrew's prefix
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```sh
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brew unlink <formula>
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```
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This can be useful if a package can't build against the version of something you have linked into Homebrew's prefix.
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And of course, you can simply `brew link <formula>` again afterwards!
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## Pre-download a file for a formula
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Sometimes it's faster to download a file via means other than the strategies that are available as part of Homebrew. For example, Erlang provides a torrent that'll let you download at 4–5× compared to the normal HTTP method.
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Downloads are saved in the `downloads` subdirectory of Homebrew's cache directory (as specified by `brew --cache`, e.g. `~/Library/Caches/Homebrew`) and renamed as `<url-hash>--<formula>-<version>`. The command `brew --cache --build-from-source <formula>` will print the expected path of the cached download, so after downloading the file, you can run `mv the_tarball "$(brew --cache --build-from-source <formula>)"` to relocate it to the cache.
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You can also pre-cache the download by using the command `brew fetch <formula>` which also displays its SHA-256 hash. This can be useful for updating formulae to new versions.
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## Install stuff without the Xcode CLT
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```sh
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brew sh # or: eval "$(brew --env)"
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gem install ronn # or c-programs
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```
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This imports the `brew` environment into your existing shell; `gem` will pick up the environment variables and be able to build. As a bonus, `brew`'s automatically determined optimization flags are set.
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## Install only a formula's dependencies (not the formula)
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```sh
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brew install --only-dependencies <formula>
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```
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## Use the interactive Homebrew shell
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```console
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$ brew irb
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==> Interactive Homebrew Shell
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Example commands available with: `brew irb --examples`
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brew(main):001> Formulary.factory("ace").methods - Object.methods
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=>
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[:test,
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:install,
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:valid_platform?,
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...
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:debug?,
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:verbose?,
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:quiet?]
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[:install, :test, :test_defined?, :sbin, :pkgshare, :elisp,
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brew(main):002>
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```
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## Hide the beer mug emoji when finishing a build
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```sh
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export HOMEBREW_NO_EMOJI=1
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```
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This sets the `HOMEBREW_NO_EMOJI` environment variable, causing Homebrew to hide all emoji.
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The beer emoji can also be replaced with other character(s):
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```sh
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export HOMEBREW_INSTALL_BADGE="☕️ 🐸"
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```
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## Migrate a Homebrew installation to a new location
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Running `brew bundle dump` will record an installation to a `Brewfile` and `brew bundle install` will install from a `Brewfile`. See `brew bundle --help` for more details.
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## Appoint Homebrew Cask to manage a manually-installed app
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Run `brew install --cask` with the `--adopt` switch:
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```console
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$ brew install --cask --adopt textmate
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==> Downloading https://github.com/textmate/textmate/releases/download/v2.0.23/TextMate_2.0.23.tbz
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...
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==> Installing Cask textmate
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==> Adopting existing App at '/Applications/TextMate.app'
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==> Linking Binary 'mate' to '/opt/homebrew/bin/mate'
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🍺 textmate was successfully installed!
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```
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## Define aliases for Homebrew commands
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Use [`brew alias`](Manpage.md#alias---edit-aliasaliascommand) to define custom commands that run other commands in `brew` or your shell, similar to the `alias` shell builtin.
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```shell
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# Add aliases
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$ brew alias ug='upgrade'
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$ brew alias i='install'
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# Print all aliases
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$ brew alias
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# Print one alias
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$ brew alias i
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# Use your aliases like any other command
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$ brew i git
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# Remove an alias
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$ brew unalias i
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# Aliases can include other aliases
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$ brew alias show='info'
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$ brew alias print='show'
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$ brew print git # will run `brew info git`
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```
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Note that names of stock Homebrew commands can't be used as aliases.
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All aliased commands are prefixed with `brew`, unless they start with `!` or `%`:
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```shell
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$ brew alias ug='upgrade'
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# `brew ug` → `brew upgrade`
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$ brew alias status='!git status'
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# `brew status` → `git status`
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```
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You may need single quotes to prevent your shell from interpreting `!`, but `%` will work for both quote types.
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```shell
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# Use shell expansion to preserve a local variable
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$ mygit=/path/to/my/git
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$ brew alias git="%$mygit"
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# `brew git status` → `/path/to/my/git status`
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```
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Aliases can be opened in `$EDITOR` with the `--edit` flag.
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```shell
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# Edit alias 'brew foo', creating if necessary
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$ brew alias --edit foo
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# Create and edit alias 'brew foo'
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$ brew alias --edit foo=bar
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# This works too
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$ brew alias foo --edit
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$ brew alias foo=bar --edit
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# Open all aliases in $EDITOR
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$ brew alias --edit
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```
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## Editor plugins
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### Visual Studio Code
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- [Brewfile](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=sharat.vscode-brewfile) adds Ruby syntax highlighting for `brew bundle`'s `Brewfile`s.
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- [Brew Services](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=beauallison.brew-services) is an extension for starting and stopping Homebrew services.
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### Sublime Text
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- [Homebrew-formula-syntax](https://github.com/samueljohn/Homebrew-formula-syntax) can be installed with Package Control in Sublime Text 2/3, which adds highlighting for inline patches.
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### Vim
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- [brew.vim](https://github.com/xu-cheng/brew.vim) adds highlighting to inline patches in Vim.
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### Emacs
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- [homebrew-mode](https://github.com/dunn/homebrew-mode) provides syntax highlighting for inline patches as well as a number of helper functions for editing formula files.
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- [pcmpl-homebrew](https://github.com/hiddenlotus/pcmpl-homebrew) provides completion for emacs shell-mode and eshell-mode.
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## macOS Terminal.app: Enable the "Open man Page" contextual menu item
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In the macOS Terminal, you can right-click on a command name (like `ls` or `tar`) and pop open its manpage in a new window by selecting "Open man Page".
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Terminal needs an extra hint on where to find manpages installed by Homebrew because it doesn't load normal dotfiles like `~/.bash_profile` or `~/.zshrc`.
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```sh
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sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/etc/man.d
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echo "MANPATH $(brew --prefix)/share/man" | sudo tee -a /usr/local/etc/man.d/homebrew.man.conf
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```
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If you're using Homebrew on macOS Intel, you should also fix permissions afterwards with:
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```sh
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sudo chown -R "${USER}" /usr/local/etc
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```
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## Use a caching proxy or mirror for Homebrew bottles
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You can configure Homebrew to retrieve bottles from a caching proxy or mirror.
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For example, in JFrog's Artifactory, accessible at `https://artifacts.example.com`,
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configure a new "remote" repository with `homebrew` as the "repository key" and `https://ghcr.io` as the URL.
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Then, set these environment variables for Homebrew to retrieve from the caching proxy.
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```sh
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export HOMEBREW_ARTIFACT_DOMAIN=https://artifacts.example.com/artifactory/homebrew/
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export HOMEBREW_ARTIFACT_DOMAIN_NO_FALLBACK=1
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export HOMEBREW_DOCKER_REGISTRY_BASIC_AUTH_TOKEN="$(printf 'anonymous:' | base64)"
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```
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## Load Homebrew from the same dotfiles on different operating systems
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Some users may want to use the same shell initialization files on macOS and Linux.
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Use this to detect the likely Homebrew installation directory and load Homebrew when it's found.
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You may need to adapt this to your particular shell or other particulars of your environment.
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```sh
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command -v brew || export PATH="/opt/homebrew/bin:/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/bin:/usr/local/bin"
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command -v brew && eval "$(brew shellenv)"
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```
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